Dearest Sulphur
by WithinHerHeart
Summary: Ironhide is going through the five stages of grief. Five chapter story. IronhidexRatchet. For xStarSaber! Thank you for all your help! Warning for religious themes.
1. Are You Okay?

_Title: Dearest Sulphur_

_Summary: Ironhide is going through he five stages of grief. Five chapter story. IronhideXRatchet. For xStarSaber! Thank you for all your help!_

_Pairing: RatchetxIronhide_

_Rating: T_

_Genre: Family, Angst_

_Notes: Dedicated to xStarSaber! (Forgive me! I had meant to do a Christmas story, as it's that time of the year again, but all Christmas stories had been done to death T.T I'm sorry! But I did a little Christmas thing at the end.)_

_Chapter 1: Denial_

'Ironhide, how are you feeling?'

Ironhide stopped tinkering with his cannons, and looked up, genuinely surprised. Optimus stood before him, his arms crossed and his optics carefully watching the weapons specialist. They were alone together in the target range, the two just finishing up from some desperately needed practise when Optimus had suddenly spoken up.

'Hmm? What?' Was his confused reply, and Optimus sighed quietly, his optics sad.

'I asked how you were feeling, Ironhide.' He repeated, and Ironhide frowned. Optimus spoke clearly and slowly, as if talking to a sparkling, or as if he was choosing his words very, very carefully. Almost like he didn't want to upset or aggravate the mech.

'I'm feelin' fine, Optimus.' Ironhide told him. 'Why?' His voice was questioning and curious, and he slowly retracted his weaponry as he spoke. Optimus watched him, his faceplates and optics void of emotion..

'….You're….feeling fine?' The leader suddenly seemed confused, and Ironhide's frown deepened.

'Yeah. Why? What's the matter, Optimus?' The Prime sighed again, shaking his helm, and moved to stand next to the warrior, his movements almost cautious.

'Well…everyone's worried about you.' He admitted, and Ironhide blinked, baffled.

'Why's everyone worried 'bout me?' He thought to himself. 'What have I been doin' to make people concerned?'

'Why? What have I done?' The black mech quizzed. Optimus paused for a moment, looking deep in thought, before he spoke up.

'You haven't done anything, 'Hide.' He said. Ironhide arched a optic ridge at his leader.

'I haven't done nothin'? Then why-'

'That's exactly why we're worried.' Optimus interrupted, raising his voice a little. 'You haven't done anything.'

'What?'

'Ironhide…' Optimus raised a hand a rubbed his helm, clearly stressed. 'What happened to Sulphur around a human week ago?'

Ironhide growled, and leapt up. He stormed across the room to the other side, snarling under his breath. Optimus stayed silent, fully expecting this reaction, and watched him move. There was a silence for a few minutes, neither of the mechs wanting to move or speak.

'Ironhide-' Optimus eventually attempted to speak, but Ironhide cut across him.

'Don't, Prime.' He said simply. 'Don't.' Optimus exhaled heavily, off lining his optics and counting to ten in his mind. He didn't want to deal with this. Not today.

'Ironhide. Listen to me.'

'I don't need to listen to you. Leave me alone.' Ironhide countered, and brought up one of his twin cannons. Optimus narrowed his optics at his old friend as he aimed at one of the targets.

'This isn't right, old friend. I'm sorry, and I wish I didn't have to say this, but-'

'Don't you dare, Prime.'

'Your daughter is dead. I'm sorry.'

Ironhide stilled, his cannons in the midst of warming up to fire. Optimus watched, awaiting his reaction. Eventually, Ironhide retracted his cannon again and turned to stare at his leader.

'No. Sulphur is not dead.' He denied, and blue optics dulled. Optimus reached out, and touched the black mech's shoulder comfortingly. 'She isn't.'

'I'm so sorry, 'Hide.' He rubbed the metal gently. 'She was my niece. I understand how you feel.'

'No.' Ironhide replied simply. 'She isn't dead. That wouldn't happen. So it can't be happenin'. That's all there is to it.' Optimus shook his helm, world-weary.

'Ironhide, I didn't want to do this. I would do anything to change the past. But Skywarp shot her. Her spark was extinguished almost instantly, 'Hide.'

'No.'

'Bumblebee found her, and carried her back.'

'No, he didn't.'

'Her body's in the med bay. You saw her.'

'She'll wake up, then.'

'Ironhide. I'm sorry, but she won't. She's gone.'

'No.' Ironhide smiled and shook his head, rejecting reality. 'She's okay. This wouldn't happen, like I said.' Optimus glanced at the weapons specialist disapprovingly.

'Ratchet has accepted the truth. He is grieving, yes, what Carrier wouldn't, but he realises that she is gone. As has Magnesium. Why can't you?' The leaders voice was soft, imploring him to understand. Ironhide grunted.

'She'll prove them wrong. She's tough.' And with that, the aged warrior turned away, and his cannons reappeared. He warmed them up, without saying a word, and shot at the target.

Optimus just sighed, and left.

-------

_**(12 Years ago)**_

'_Daddy!' _

_That was the only warning a half-awake Ironhide had before something heavy and freezing cold slammed into his frame._

'_Umph!' He grunted in pain, and Ratchet sleepily onlined one optic._

'_Mmm…? Was goin' on?' He murmured, and there was a high pitched squeal and another grunt of pain as another something slammed into Ratchet's chassis._

'_Mommy, Daddy! C'mon, wake up! It's Christmas!' Sulphur and Magnesium both cried in perfect unison, grinning in excitement. Ironhide groaned in agony and onlined his own optics as his bond mate slowly got up, stretching._

'_Primus, I totally forgot.' The green mech confessed, and sighed loudly. 'The Pit has come to us today.' Ironhide would have made some sort of noise in agreement, but there were two rather heavy sparklings jumping up and down on him, so it was difficult to vocalise anything other than yelps and grunts. 'Right. Get off of your father, you two.' _

_The two femmes instantly leapt off, and landed on the floor with a loud, painful sounding thump. The two of them, who would usually start bawling instantly, merely shook off the pain and jumped back onto their pedes. Ratchet got off of the berth quickly, and rose, while it took Ironhide longer to adjust to being woken up randomly with pain._

'_Come on, 'Hide.' Ratchet yelled in the poor mechs audios, and the black mech winced. 'Get up!' _

'_Frag you….'_

'_Mind your language!' The medic snapped at him, and hurriedly shooed the sparklings out of the room. 'Go wake up Optimus and Bee as painfully as possible, alright? Then do the same with Prowl and Jazz. Let Stealth and Carbon sort out the rest.' He commanded them, and they saluted him jokingly._

'_Sir, yes sir!' They grinned, and scrambled off in direction of the second in command's shared room, as Prowl and Jazz had the closest quarters._

'_You're evil….' Ironhide sniggered from his position on the berth, still not up. Ratchet shushed him, smirking._

'_Wait.' He said, and the two waited for a few minutes in silence, holding their breath._

_There was a loud yell of outrage from somewhere deeper inside the base._

_Ratchet and Ironhide both burst into identical fits of laughter, only stopping when they realised there were footsteps rushing towards the room quickly._

_Not soon after, Sulphur and Magnesium went rushing by, the young femmes giggling like maniacs as they fled from a downright furious Prowl._

_Ratchet and Ironhide shared a look._

_They promptly started laughing again._

_**(End)**_

_That's Chapter 1 done :D_

_This is a sad story *cries*_

_But I did a little Christmas thing at the end there (as a note, at that time, Sulphur was six years old. So if that was twelve years ago, she died when she was eighteen *is sad*. Magnesium was eight, so she's twenty now.) so yeah._

_MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! xxxx_


	2. Have A Little Faith

_Chapter 2 of Dearest Sulphur!_

_This is the second of the five stages of grief- the anger. This is the 'why did this have to happen to me?!' part, where the griever starts to feel furious, in this case, at the murderer and the victim. Now Ironhide will finally realise that his daughter is dead. *bursts into tears* I need a tissue!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers! *weeps* BUT! I do own Magnesium, Sulphur, Kendra, Carbon and Stealth! (God, the Transformers have a lot of kids.)_

_NOTES: Also, I realise that Guitar Hero 3 is horribly out of date, but that's the only one I own. I wanted to talk about a game that I owned, so no. 3 it was!_

_Also, I have no idea how priest's act! (A weird statement, I know. Read and you'll understand.) I made it up, so if it's all wrong, you know why._

_Chapter Two: Rage_

Ironhide could barely hear himself think over the cheering crowd of mechs and femmes. They cried out encouragement and clapped as they surrounded the television in human form, watching in wonder as Arcee and Jazz shook hands, before turning to the games console. Ironhide watched the group with vague interest, picking out the flaxen hair of his eldest daughter next to his niece. They were both smiling, cheering on two different relatives each as the game was started up by Sunstreaker.

Ratchet, who was leaning on Ironhide's side, rolled his eyes, but said nothing about the irritating level of noise. He pressed himself more heavily in Ironhide's side, and rested his head on the black haired man's chest. He had been not as talkative - or rather, grumpy- as he usually was.

'I'm so gonna thrash you.' Arcee smirked, holding the plastic guitar and slinging the strap around her shoulder. Jazz grinned back, his eyes playfully narrowing as he did the same.

'Yeah, right.' He laughed. 'No-one can beat me at 'Through The Fire And The Flames'.' Arcee arched a golden eyebrow, and everyone around the two began to snicker.

'That's gonna change, Jazz, baby.' She declared, as the game began to play. They rapidly clicked through the intro-credits, and the game began to load.

'What's this game?' Ratchet spoke up, his voice curious.

'Guitar Hero 3.'Ironhide replied. 'They borrowed, or rather, stole it from Mikaela yesterday. I don't think they're gonna give it back soon.' Ratchet made a noise of amusement, and continued to watch the group. They were now scrolling down to find the song they wanted, and the crowd watched quietly. The song loaded quite quickly, and the song began to play.

Ironhide glanced at the screen, watching the game play out. The crowd around the two players watched while cheering on their favourites.

'Go on, Arcee!' Magnesium giggled. 'Girl power!' Jazz scoffed, but did not look away, to busy pressing on the buttons of his fake instrument. Arcee glanced away for a split second and flashed a winning smile at her niece. That was her mistake.

'Gah!' She yelped when she realised she had just missed some of her noted, and had to wait before she could copy the rhythm again. Everyone laughed at her as she flushed a bright pink in embarrassment, and Jazz quietly cheered to himself. Ironhide smiled slightly to himself, chuckling at the two's antics. Ratchet removed his head and sat up, nuzzling his head into Ironhide's neck.

'Who do you want to win?' Ratchet asked, his voice light and soft. Ironhide shrugged.

'Dunno. Jazz, 'cause he can't lose to a femme, but Arcee 'cause Jazz needs to be taken down a peg or two.' Ratchet chuckled in reply.

'Damnit!' Arcee snarled as she missed yet another note.

'Go on, Mom!' Stealth called out to her, showing his teeth in a wolfish grin. 'Beat Jazz! You can do it!' Arcee giggled, but did not reply or look away from the screen.

Ironhide blinked slowly, watching the family scene with no expression. Stealth was watching his mother from his seat next to his father, beaming. Sideswipe watched his bond mate play, smiling in excitement. The young mech looked very much like Arcee, with his-

''Hide?' Ratchet's voice interrupted his thoughts, and Ironhide looked down to see the medic looking up at him, frowning. 'You alright?'

'Yeah. I'm fine.' Ironhide said, nodding. No one in the crowd, or sitting outside it noticed the conversation. Optimus was watching Bumblebee and Saviour as he conversed absentmindedly with Prowl, who watched his own mate play and his own sparkling. Kendra sat alone on a nearby seat, reading some sort of book. Ratchet frowned and sat up.

'Liar.' He accused, his forest green eyes narrowing. Ironhide glared back.

'I ain't lyin'.' He shot back, his voice clearly annoyed.

'Liar.' He repeated, and Kendra looked up, her expression concerned. 'Tell me the truth.'

'I'm fine, Ratch.' The weapons specialist insisted, narrowing his own eyes. 'Trust me.' The two were suddenly momentarily distracted by loud cheers of victory and some groans of disappointment.

'Who won?' Ironhide called over, and Saviour turned to them, smirking as Magnesium pouted.

'Jazz did!' She turned away and high-fived the male triumphantly. Arcee hid her face in her hands in shame, but you could see the smile on her face. Kendra just nodded in her sister figures direction, while Jazz ran over to Prowl and leapt at him. He knocked him to the floor, and rowdy laughter sounded as Jazz kissed the second in command in full view of everyone. Optimus rolled his eyes, and moved to stand next to his daughter. Neither Ratchet or Ironhide laughed. They merely smiled, and looked away immediately, they're minds elsewhere.

'You're not fine.' Ratchet continued after all attention had gone to Stealth stealing on of the false instruments and boldly challenging Jazz to a game, to restore his mothers lost honour. The man had laughed, and accepted the challenge instantly. 'I know you're not.

'Ratchet. Honestly.'

'You've been like this ever since…. Sulphur was found.'

Ironhide instantly shot up from his seat without saying anything. The few Autobots who were not distracted by the game looked up in curiosity and sudden confusion.

'Ironhide?' Optimus called to the ebony haired man, his eyes narrowed.

The man rapidly left before looking at anybody, not even replying to his daughters confused, 'Dad?' Everyone stared after him as his slammed the door behind him, and all the heads swivelled around to glance at a surprised Ratchet. The medic abruptly stood, and raced after him.

Ironhide hissed in fury and frustration as he stormed down the many twisting and turning hallways. He'd had enough. Just had enough.

'_Sulphur this, Sulphur that!' _He fumed to himself. _'No one's shut up about her so called 'death'! She's not dead, damnit! So stop tryin' to convince me that she is!'_

'Ironhide?' Wheeljack poked his head out of a random doorway, frowning. Ironhide paused, and stared at the scientist. 'You okay?' Ironhide scowled at him in return.

'No.' He spat furiously before continuing. Wheeljack blinked in surprise, but shook his head, and went back to his work.

'_Stupid fraggin' idiots!' _He raged, being able to think little else. _'Skywarp's fraggin' incompetent. Sulph was and is a good fighter, so how's it possible that she died? She can't be gone.'_

'Ironhide!' Ratchet suddenly appeared behind him, snarling his name into his ear. He snatched one of the aged warrior's hands, and yanked him closer to him. 'Get back here!'

'No. Let go of me.' He refused to comply, and Ratchet showed his teeth at his mate.

'No! You can't just run from this!'

'I'm not runnin'!' He snapped. 'I've just had enough of people tellin' me that Sul's dead!'

'Ironhide, I'm sorry, but she is. I wish that she wasn't, but she is. All we can do is accept it.' When Ironhide did not respond, he continued. 'Magnesium's upset. Can you go talk to her, and apologise for leaving?'

'I don't need to apologise.'

'Ironhide.'

'Primus. Just don't talk to me, Ratch.' Ironhide fumed, tugged his hand free, and stalked off.

_-----_

'_Come on, Sulph…. You're kiddin' me, right?' Ironhide whined as he was dragged up the road by his arm. It was late at night, and dark, yet the streets were still quite busy with people. Ironhide noted that these people looked far more shady than people who dwelled here in the day, and there was less of them, but damn it, he didn't appreciate being forced this late at night when he could be recharging. Or interfacing. Well, there's better things he could be doing._

'_Come on, Ironhide….I'm not kiddin' you!' Sulphur rolled her eyes at him, before halting. She stood on her toes for a moment, dropped his hand and craned her neck as if looking for something. Ironhide frowned at her._

'_What are we lookin' for? Where are we going?' He asked suspiciously, and she shook her head at him playfully._

'_That tone was uncalled for, daddy.' She scolded, giggling at him, before retaking his hand and beginning to run again. 'And I'm not telling you that. It's a surprise.' Ironhide scowled._

'_Why not?' _

'_Because.' She replied simply._

'_That's not a valid reason, Sulph.' He argued. Sulphur pulled a face, and stopped again. Halt, toes, drop, crane. 'Come on. Give me a real one.'_

'_Oh!' She suddenly cried, and dropped back onto her feet normally. Her eyes brightened, and she cackled madly while jumping up and down. Ironhide blinked, and stared at her. Many random people in the street did the same. 'It's there, it's there!' She grabbed his hand yet again, and dragged him off. Again._

'_What's there, what's there?' _

'_Wait and see!' She giggled, still running. 'It's not that far away!'_

_Eventually, after a few twists and turns and a few minor casualties of running into people, they arrived at their destination._

'_See, daddy! There!' Sulphur turned to him, grinning manically as they stopped._

_Ironhide stared at the building, his mouth wide open._

_He then shifted his gaze and stared at her._

_His daughter pouted in response._

'…_.A church, Sulph?' He asked, completely surprised. 'A church?'_

'_Yeah!' She enthused, bouncing up and down again. 'Come on, daddy, lets go!' She attempted to drag him through the gate, where a few people were already going, but he stood his ground. _

'_No, Sulph.' She turned back to him._

'…_.huh? What?'_

'_There is no way in the Pit that I'm goin' into a church.' He refused, pulling his hand from hers and crossing his arms defiantly. 'No.' Sulphur's shoulders sagged._

'_Daddy?' Her bottom lip quivered slightly. 'Why not?' Ironhide sighed, and looked away._

'_I'm not really a…religious person.' He confessed, and Sulphur frowned, placing her hands on her hips. She simply stared at him for a few moments, until she shook her head slowly._

'_Why not, dad?'_

'_I just…don't.'_

_A twisted smirk appeared on her mouth, and she sniggered at him.' What's the matter, daddy? Scared?'_

'_No!' Ironhide scowled at her laughter. 'Of course not.'_

'_Then come on!' The smirk turned into a bright, happy smile, and she turned and ran through the gate, careful not to run into anyone._

'_Sul- No! Sally! Come back!' He almost yelled at her real name, before correcting himself. She ignored his command, and only turned and flashed a sweet and innocent smile at him before disappearing into the aged building._

_Regardless of the faith he didn't have for either deities, he chased after her without thinking. He ran through the gate, also wary of the other people there, and pushed the heavy oak door open._

_He wrinkled his nose as a strange, musty smell assaulted his sensors, and took a look around. It was a massive place, and clearly very old- dust coated all the old books lined up against a nearby wall, and the marble floor had cracks running through it. The church seemed normal with the age, the layout of the chairs, and the amount of people. He scowled, and scanned the area, looking for his daughter._

_He spotted her sitting next to a small family, looking up at and talking to a young man. She was smiling and laughing with him, but Ironhide's parental instincts kicked in._

'_Sally!' He called, not even trying to be quiet, and lots of people who weren't his daughter looked up in surprise. She looked up too, along with her companion, and the Autobot saw a black and white collar around his throat. He narrowed his silver eyes at the two. 'Sally, why'd you run off?'_

'_I just wanted to come in here.' Sulphur said, attempting to give him the famous 'doe eyes' that she had been taught by Bumblebee. Ironhide stared at her._

'_The eyes aren't workin', Sally.' He argued, and held out a hand to her. 'Come on. We should get back to Richard.'_

'_Oh, I…' The priest spoke up, only to fall into a fearful silence when Ironhide stared at him, his eyes boring a hole into his forehead. '…Um…'_

'_Daddy!' Sulphur reached over and roughly hit Ironhide on the arm. He didn't flinch. 'Don't be so rude! What would mommy say?' She looked up at the priest and smiled. 'Sorry about him.'_

'_Oh, no.' He smiled back at her. 'It's fine, really. It's just that.. The sermon will start soon, so you are more than welcome to stay.' Sulphur turned and smiled sweetly at her father._

'_See? We can stay.' She spoke through her teeth. 'Will we?'_

'……_Fine.' The man sighed, and she leapt up. _

'_Yay! Thank you!' She squealed, and leapt at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He stumbled back a few steps with the weight of the seventeen year old girl, his eyes wide with surprise. He could vaguely hear the priest laughing as the forest eyed girl placed a kiss on his cheek with a noisy 'mwah'. She pulled away, and then dashed off into another corner of the church. 'Be back in a moment, saw a pretty painting!'_

'_Sally, no!' He yelled after her again. 'You're not allowed to run around!'_

'_Oh, no, it's fine.' The priest chuckled some more, watching her go. 'She'll be okay.' Ironhide sighed, and shook his head._

'_I don't know what I'll do with that girl.' He gave a small smile, which the younger, far younger than he would ever realise, man returned. _

'_She's…quite excitable.' _

'_You've got that right.'_

'_Does she believe?' He asked curiously, tilting his head to the side._

'_Yeah.' Ironhide nodded, turning to look at him. The two stayed in a uncomfortable silence for a few moments._

'Short brown hair, intelligent looking blue eyes, looks as if he's in his early twenties… probably not a Decepticon.' _The weapon's specialist narrowed his eyes, analysing the younger mans appearance quickly. He shook his head, and looked away, exhaling heavily in annoyance. He could see his daughter standing next to a statue, staring up at it curiously._

'_Do you believe?' Ironhide was randomly pulled out of his thoughts by the priest, and he jumped in surprise. _

'_Oh. Um… I don't know. I'm…' Ironhide paused, trying to remember the term humans used. 'I'm agnostic. I do say stuff like '_Oh, for god's sake.' _I think that just comes naturally though, in this day and age. ' The priest smiled and nodded understandingly._

'_I see. That's blasphemous, but ' He smiled. 'I don't mean to be rude, but why do you have different views about religion than your daughter?' Ironhide shrugged._

'_I think it's 'cause we were both raised differently. I was born…..into a blood feud between two families. I tend not to be all religious 'cause of some of the things I've seen.'_

'_Oh. I see. I'm sorry for intruding.' The man apologised, seeming sincere. 'Has this feud been sorted out?'_

'_No. My two daughters have been born into it, but Sally say's 'Everythin' happens for a reason.' Like some people say, minus the accent.' Both men chuckled. 'I don't really agree with her. Nor does her sister or… mother.' The sides of Ironhide's mouth twitched when he thought about 'Richard's' reaction. The priest looked over to watch the young girl, who was now conversing with another girl who was seemingly her age. _

'_She believes the same as me.' The priest smiled yet again._

'Everything happens for a reason.'

_-----_

'_Then why did you die?'_

Before he knew it, Ironhide stood outside her old room.


	3. Words Falling Upon Deaf Audios

Chapter III: Words Falling Upon Deaf Ears

Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers. I do own Magnesium, Sulphur, Kendra, Carbon and Stealth!

_Before Sulphur had come along, what was now her room used to be a spare room for broken medical equipment. With Ratchet's famous temper and his love for hurling wrenches at the people who angered him, it was a very full and untidy place. _

_When it was revealed that Ratchet was Carrying another sparkling, Optimus had decided to place her in there. There were no more quarters to spare, and it was rather conveniently next door to the med bay. Ratchet's own quarters were connected to the bay too, in case of emergencies. Once she was born, if she become distressed, the medic nearly always had easy access to her. It would take a while to clear the room and decorate it with the essentials, but they had around seven months to do it in._

_Thankfully, they did have some experience in sparkling birth and care thanks to their daughter, Magnesium. Unfortunately, it was unbelievably difficult trying to entertain her, decorate the storeroom, fight the Deceptions and stay sane all at the same time. _

_It took two months to clean the room properly to Ratchet's satisfaction- as all the Autobots were suffering from his pregnancy now- and three weeks to dispose of the useless equipment ideally. Magnesium had Ironhide's old quarters, so she didn't need her room to be cleaned. Ironhide secretly wished that he could have used Prowl's old one, but Arcee had claimed that one when she arrived._

_It took around a month to find the correct equipment, for both her sparkling form and holoform. Ironhide sorted out the layout of the room alone, while Optimus, Ratchet and Prowl went over everything else that would be needed- who would take care of her if Ratchet and Ironhide were killed, and what would happen in the event of a attack, for example._

_After that, all that was left to do was wait. They had around three more months until their sparkling would be born._

_-------_

_Ironhide knew the day had come when he awoke from recharge near exactly three months later. Humans always seemed to say, 'I knew that would happen!' without any actual way of predicting it, but Ironhide really could tell. Mainly through being woken up by the sickening agony from only the pleasure of sparkling birth filtering over his bond._

_After it was done, First Aid had allowed the weapons specialist to enter, the father holding Magnesium in his arms. Almost immediately, First Aid took the older sparkling and pressed the newly sparked femme into his arms, smiling his congratulations._

"_I'll give you some time alone." He said, and whisked away with a confused Magnesium. But Ironhide wasn't really listening, and his optics were locked onto the sparkling._

_She was quite small compared to the other sparklings, which was strange, but Ironhide rapidly discovered that she had quite the mouth on her, as she attempted to shriek the med bay down. The mech could sense over the bond that she was very, very upset about not knowing where she was, and why she could not hear the comforting spark beat of her creator anymore. He stroked her helm comfortingly, and murmured comforting words softly in her audios._

"_Hey, it's alright…" He whispered quietly, and her cries slowly but steadily began to decrease in volume. She whined quietly, her large, Autobot blue optics staring up at him. He smiled down at her._

_Her protective armour was black, with some red lines running down her frame. It was a thin metal, and there was not a lot of it, but the two Autobot medics would speed up the development of the proper armour when she was old enough. She would also receive weapons when she was mature enough._

_The femme made some curious and saddened little chirps and clicks, and waved her arms at him. He cooed at her, and wagged a finger gently next to her face. She stared at it in awe, and Ironhide felt it flow over their bond._

--------

Everything was normal in her room from her birth, until she hit the age of fourteen human years. By that time, she was heavily into decorating her quarters on her own. Posters of her favourite bands and movies were stuck all over the walls with pictures of friends and family, so much that she forgot the colours her walls used to be. Books stood in piles on the floor. Her human sized desk was littered with random objects such as notepads, and she had carved scribbles into the oak of it. Stereo systems were all over the place, and clothes were flung in every direction. The carpet used to be a deep blue, but there where stains all over it and it had begun to wear down in the years. Ratchet made up for this by forcing his daughter to cover the floors with some rugs.

"_Sure, my room's messy, but it's mine!" _Sulphur would claim whenever someone inquired to when she would clean her quarters, grinning manically.

Her room stayed like that for the next four years.

Iron hide refused to say 'the rest of her life'.

Ironhide stood in the middle of the place now, glancing around the room without making a sound. The room was still as messy as usual, but the berth looked like it had recently been sat on.

'_Probably Magnesium.' _Ironhide thought_. 'Or maybe Ratchet._' He shook his head to himself, and sat in the same spot, deep in thought. He glanced around the room again, sweeping his gaze around the whole up place. He saw a photo next to the berth, a group picture of everyone. Ironhide remembered this photo well, as it was the one which put him through the Pit and back to take. The fragging timer kept going off as he was attempting to squeeze in between Ratchet and Kendra. Ironhide let a smile appear on his faceplate, before looking at the cluster of pictures below it.

The second one was a picture that Ratchet had given her. It was one of her as a newborn sparkling, being held by Ratchet. They were surrounded by the Autobots, along with their human friends, and everyone was laughing and smiling. This picture had been pinned up with a tiny note from Sulphur which listed everybody's names. There was also one of Bumblebee, Optimus and Saviour together, flashing identical winning smiles at the camera, and one of the twins with their arms wrapped round Arcee. Ironhide's smile was tarnished with sadness, and he looked away from the captured family scenes that at any other time he would secretly find adorable.

He turned around and saw her jewellery box at the window, still open from the last time she had rummaged through it in her holoform. There was even a Post It note stuck to that, but the handwriting looked more like Optimus's than his daughters. Rings were weighing it down, as a extra precaution. Clearly Optimus did not quite understand the point of Post It notes. Ironhide smiled to himself again, and reached out to brush his digits against the tiny bands of metal, before rising, and stepping back into the centre of the room. At this view point, he could see that Sulphur had draped some of her necklaces around the box, and one of them caught his attention.

Ironhide's optics darkened.

He reached over, and tugged the necklace from the box.

"Everythin' happens for a reason." He muttered to himself, the bitterness clear in his voice. It was the one that Ratchet had given her to wear in her human form when she was young, which, according to the medic, the humans used to pray to their 'God'. It had a name, but Ironhide never bothered himself to look it up. His daughter's treasured possession was tiny in his grasp, and he glared at it.

Time passed slowly as he stared at it, his expression blank.

"That's absolute bullshit!" Ironhide suddenly roared, his optics flaring white.

The necklace struck the wall, and fell to the floor. He snarled viciously, shooting up. He slammed his fist into the tiny desk, instantly breaking it with a loud crack and sending her old possessions flying everywhere. There were multiple loud thuds. "What the hell are You Two doin'?! And yeah, I'm talkin' to both of You!"

Silence fell.

'_Yeah, like I expected anythin' else.' _

"What were You thinkin'?! Why the hell did you…" Ironhide's powerful hands clenched into fists. 'Why did…why did this happen to us?'

The mech's legs shook, and he sunk to the ground. His old joints creaked in protest, and Ironhide knew that Ratchet would be throwing wrenches at him later, but right now, it didn't matter. The weapons specialist shuddered, his entire form shaking. He hit the floor in frustration, and everything in the room shook and jumped.

"I'm old. She was young. And she's dead! If Anyone, anywhere has the power to give and take lives, let me trade!" He yelled, his voice raw with emotion. "I've played my part in this fragging war! I've killed! I've tortured! And this is my reward?! Seeing my little sparkling with her spark blown out of her chassis?!" He struck the floor again.

His optics suddenly widened in panic and terror which didn't belong to him, and his chest began to tingle. A familiar presence joined him and his spark twitched and pulsed brightly in it's casing as he recognised the voice.

_:'Hide? 'Hide, what is it?: _Ratchet's voice, fearful and surprised, flowed over their bond. Ironhide's optics began to leak, and he fought to keep his raging temper under control.

_:Ratch.: _He greeted once he was sure that he wouldn't lash out at the one he loved, but his voice was shaking as much as his frame was. _:How can you stand it?:_

_:'Hide, what are you talking about? What's going on?:_

_:How can you stand knowin' Sulphur's gone, Ratch? That our little daughter's gone and she isn't coming back?:_

_-----_

"_What can you see?"_

"_I can see a horse! What about you?"_

"_I can see a cloud."_

"_Ha-ha. Very funny, Mag."_

"_Where's that horse, then?"_

"_There! Next to cloud which looks like a rabbit!"_

"…_..Looks more like a sheep to me."_

"_You have no imagination."_

"_Actually, I do."_

"_Oh, really? You have a go."_

"_If I must."_

"…_."_

"…_."_

"_Is it just me, or does that cloud there look like Megatron?"_

"_How does a cloud look like a giant robot?"_

"_It was a joke, Sulph."_

"_What are you two doing out here?"_

"_Hi, Mom."_

"_Hey, Mom. We're playing cloud spotting."_

"_I've heard about that. According to William Lennox and your father, Annabelle loves it."_

"_We should play with her when we see her next, Mag."_

"_Mom, quick question."_

"_Yes?"_

"_Can you see a horse?"_

"…_."_

"…_."_

"…_."_

"_I can see a sheep, if that's any help."_

_------_

_End of Chapter III!_

_By the way, is anyone cheating and looking up the five stages on the internet? I just realised people could have been doing that the other day *laughs* Eh. I don't mind. _


End file.
